


it was a fine idea at the time

by QueenOfChaos



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: (kinda), AU-Jason was never Robin, Alpha Bruce Wayne, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Friends With Benefits, Good Parent Slade Wilson, He still doesn't respect his children's life choices, M/M, Omega Jason Todd, Or Red Hood, Slade is Jason's Dad, a bit of smut, a sprinkle of angst, more or less
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:08:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26493151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfChaos/pseuds/QueenOfChaos
Summary: Out of the few people that have soulmarks, Jason is an even rarer case: He knows for certain what his mark means.But while he counts himself lucky for knowing, and dreams of a happy future with his fated other half; he isn't ready yet to deal with all the trouble being Batman's soulmate entails.In the meantime, sleeping with his boss seems like a good distraction...
Relationships: Jason Todd & Slade Wilson, Jason Todd/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 21
Kudos: 246





	it was a fine idea at the time

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I know I should be finishing my other WIP, but....  
> here's another one? I guess. ;)

If there is one thing Jason hates about his lover, it's his flakiness- half the time Bruce was late, or cancelled. Some important meeting is always coming up last second, or there's a parent-teacher conference he'd forgotten about or whatever. It's incredibly annoying. 

Tonight's no different. Jason is left waiting once again, alone in Bruce's huge penthouse, a full hour past the time they'd agreed to meet up. He can't even concentrate on reading, he's too pent up and horny. He's debating just going home, when he finally hears the front door open. 

Jason sinks back into the bed, purring in anticipation, before jumping up just moments later. The steps sound wrong- they're way too heavy. While Bruce is huge and packed with muscles, his gait is near silent. 

But that's not the only thing wrong- Jason can't smell anything either. Bruce normally has a heavy, dominating Alpha scent, that Jason can pick up even when it's dampened, as he does for the office.   
Whoever just entered doesn't smell like anything at all.

Jason scrambles for his bag, and manages to grab his gun and disable the safety just in time. 

When it's Deathstroke, the Terminator, who opens the bedroom door, in his weird orange suit, all Jason can do for a moment is stare. Slade stares back, equally shocked to see him. 

He knows he doesn't have a chance, but he shoots Slade anyway. Just for the fun of it. It's all he can do, before the mercenary crosses the room in a few steps and stabs a needle into his neck. 

————

Jason wakes up in the back seat of a car, feeling groggy and parched, like a bad hangover. It's still dark out, but dawn is slowly beginning to break- he'd been out roughly eight hours. 

There's a bottle of water and a pack of paracetemol in the car door, Slade waits until he's take one to start talking. 

"So you're sleeping with Wayne." Slades tone is flat in a way Jason knows to mean he's brimming with barely concealed anger. 

"Yeah", Jason shrugs. 

There's no use in denying it, really, being caught in the man's bed wearing nothing but lacy panties and stockings is a huge give away. Slade had wrapped him in Bruce's robe while he was out, probably not wanting to attract attention by carrying off a half naked, unconcious Omega. It's red and silky, and Jason's grateful both for being covered and the comforting scent that clings to it, even if he would have preferred something warm. 

"You're the one who said I should get the Bat out of my head."

"By focussing on your degree! Not by spreading your legs for some dumb rich boy."

"I'll let you know that I am perfectly capable of maintaining a 4.0 GPA and getting dicked down multiple times a week"

Slade grip on the clutching the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles are white and his jaw is clenched. Even with the scent neutralisers he's still wearing, it's a display of Alpha anger that would make most people- Alphas and Omegas alike, cower in fear. 

Jason's just irritated. He knows that, at the core of Slade's anger is just paternal protectiveness, but that doesn't make it any better. His relationship with his father has always been troubled. 

After his mother's death, he had been struggling to survive; being a young, defenseless and packless omega drew a lot attention of the wrong kind. He managed to fend them off until Deathstroke found him. At first Jason had thought the mercenary was after him because he somehow knew about Jason's soulmark, until Slade had explained that he was Jason's real father. 

Slade had thousands of bad excuses about why he had left him, claiming that he thought Catherine could take better care of Jason alone. That might have been true then, before she got hooked on the drugs. And before she found Willis. Jason understood that part, but he could never really forgive him for never checking in. Maybe, if he'd cared to check up on Jason and his mother, he could have gotten her help. His mom might still be alive. But Slade didn't stop by until some 12 years later, when a job brought Slade to Gotham city. He'd found Jason as a malnourished, homeless and motherless pup.

Slade took him in, then, and just when Jason had gotten used to the idea of having a parent again, Slade sent him to a boarding school so he could go back to his Deathstroke gig.

The abandonment had stung, but getting some of the best education there was mostly made up for it, even if he never got along with any of his classmates. 

Slade had been back sporadically, maybe two or three times a year, to take him on survival trips and train him. Jason had always loved those trips, partially because he really enjoys martial arts and all kinds of physical activity, but mostly because Slade had never gone particularly easy on him, had never treated him like he was weaker, or more delicate, just because he's an Omega. 

So his overprotective, stereotypical Alpha-Dad behaviour concerning Jason's love life is a special sort of betrayal, coming from the one person who'd never made him feel like his caste mattered. 

It's unfair as fuck, too. Joey and Rose, both Alphas, never have to deal with this kind of bullshit, and their love lives are interesting, to say the least . 

Jason doesn't want to rehash that old argument again. 

"What contract did you have on Bruce?" He asks instead, hoping to change the topic. 

"Oh, you don't have to be worried about your little fuckbuddy, I wasn't asked to murder him. Though I am starting to consider it."

"Dad" Jason growls, warning him to drop the topic, even if hes not exactly sure what to do if Slade doesn't listen. Jump out the car? He knows how to roll properly so he won't sustain too much damage, and his healing factor can take care of the wounds that are inevitable, with how fast the car is going. He isn't quite keen on being on the side of the road in just a robe and skimpy underwear, though. Still. It's an option. 

"He pissed off the Falcones. They tried to get rid of some forged paintings at a charity auction Wayne was attending, except he contracted an independent expert." Oh, great. As if the Falcones being on the guest list of every charity event in Gotham city isn't already enough of a slap in the face of the poor people those events are supposed to be helping- a lot of whom are in bad situation because of the mafia- now they're using charity events for their crimes? Gotham just keeps getting worse and worse. 

"He wasn't stupid enough to actually report that, though, right?" Jason asks. The amount of tax write offs for real artwork are already somewhat shady- more often than not, the amount written off is quite a bit higher than the purchase price , since the true value of the art pieces is up to interpretation. But doing that with forgeries? The IRS would want to have some words with the Falcones. The Falcones, in turn, would never forgive anyone who sicced the IRS on them. After all, those are some of the only people capable of bringing the mafia down. 

"Not yet, but he did ban their contributions from his charities, which angered them enough. So they hired me to rough him up, a bit, to scare him. But of course, I didn't find Wayne. Instead, I got to find out that my son is-" 

"Stop being such a dick" Jason interrupts him "Where are you taking me, anyways? And why?" 

"Virginia. I'm kidnapping you." 

"Yeah, I kinda got that, with the drugging and all, but again: why." Jason already has some suspicions, of course, but he'd like to have it spelled out for him. 

"Well, with the cameras Waynes got all over his penthouse, he would have seen me come in. It'd look weird if we just had a nice chat. Besides, his fuckbuddy going missing might be strong enough of a message. I left a note." And isn't that a perfect example of how fucked Gotham city is? Any other city, criminals just accused of a crime might try to lay low, but the Falcones know exactly that they are not going to get into any trouble for instigating a kidnapping. After all, that's not nearly as bad as tax fraud. 

"Oh, right. You couldn't possibly go back on a contract." Jason doesn't know why he's still disappointed. After all, it's better than Bruce getting hurt. 

"It's also a great opportunity for us to spend some time together" Slade says. 

“Oh, great”. Under different circumstances, Jason would be elated. Time spent with his father is rare and precious. Under these circumstances, though? He’s mostly annoyed. 

"I have a test on Tuesday I don't want to miss."

They spend the rest of the ride in silence, before arriving at a secluded cabin in the mountains just before noon. 

After they ate (canned ravioli, yuck), Slade slides an old Nokia phone across the table. 

"No."

"Just act scared and tell him to leave the Falcones alone." Slade's voice is all commanding Alpha timbre, but Jason isn't backing down on this.

"I'm not going to lie to him." Jason stares at his father, who glares right back. 

Their stare-off lasts a whole five minutes, before Slade takes the phone back and mutters "fucking stubborn kid."

"You know who I got it from"

"Yeah", Slade gives him a fond little smile and ruffles his curls, all the while trying to type out a menacing text message on a phone without a real keyboard. Which is almost as ridiculous as the situation as a whole. 

"So, your relationship with Wayne..." Slade starts, a while later. 

"Is none of your business." Jason replies, despite knowing that Slade won't leave it at that. 

"Are you just fucking or is it a real relationship?" Well, Jason did won on the phone thing. He might as well give his Dad some answers, it seems like his best shot at finally moving past the issue. 

"We're just hooking up" Jason tries to sound nonchalant, but fails. 

"But you want more." 

He does, secretly, wish his whole no strings attached situation would turn into more. Even if there's no way that that is actually going to happen. Sure, Bruce might cuddle him and whisper sweet things in his ear after they fucked, but he never stayed the night, always slipping out as soon as he thought Jason had fallen asleep. And sure, Bruce might be giving him all sorts of expensive gifts, but he never took him on a single date. They'd eat dinner together, and it would almost feel like a date, takeout from restaurants far too fancy to ever do takeout for anyone other than Bruce Wayne- in the privacy of Bruce's Penthouse. 

Where noone could see rich and elegant Bruce Wayne flirting with a former street kid. Because somehow, despite Jason spending the majority of his teenage years in fancy european boarding schools, rich people still managed to sniff out that he wasn't one of them and that he didn't really belong. 

"I don't really. I mean, I have a soulmate"

And that's the real problem: Jason's never wanted to fall in love with someone other than his soulmate. There were occasions, when Bruce said something, or looked at him in a certain way, where Jason could delude himself into thinking his feelings were being returned, and was tempted to confess his feelings, to see where it could go. He always pulled back whenever that happened. 

As far as society's concerned, even sleeping with anybody other than your soulmate, if you’re one of the lucky few that had one, is extremely frowned upon.

Still, Jason doesn't really feel guilty about that. For one, he suspects a lot more people were doing that than they let one, and two: there'd always been a weirdly sexist element to that, where the expectation to stay chaste is mostly on the omega. 

An actual relationship, though? Love? Jason wanted to save that for his fated other half. He didn't want to let anybody else into his heart, if he knew that wasn't going to last. If he really thought about it, though, he's probably too late for that. 

Maybe that's why people say you shouldn't sleep with anybody else: it's hard not to develop feelings from intimacy like that. 

"So you're going to let that dictate how you live your life?" His father's gruff voice pulls him out of his thoughts. 

That was typical: he might hate Bruce, as he'd made his thoughts abundantly clear, but there's absolutely nothing Slade despises more than soulmarks. 

His own soulmate had shot his eye out, after all. Slade thought that everyone should just ignore their marks, but the one he least likes is Jason. 

While most people had some vague representation of their soulmate, Jason's mark was abundantly clear. A small Batsymbol, positioned on his lower back, just above the swell of his butt. 

For years, he'd viewed that as more of a curse than a blessing. Having the Batsymbol as his soulmark painted a target on his back. There were enough people that hated the Bat enough that they would do anything to hurt him, and every opportunistic assholes would love to hold him hostage or demand a ransom if they knew about his soulmark. Willis had always viewed that, and Jason by extension, as a bargaining chip. Lucky for Jason, though, Willis died before he could ever use it, and Catherine loved her son too much to ever use him like that. She had never let him approach Batman, either. 

He'd hated his soulmark. But that was back when he was a child, and couldn't even fathom wanting a lover, or spending his life with someone other than his Mom. Puberty had changed that, as had the romantic literature, that one day didn't seem so silly to him anymore. 

And with his years abroad, he'd gained distance from the situation and learned how lucky he is, to know who his soulmate is. Most soulmarks were vague, of the people who had one, most spent years trying to figure out who the little tattoo represented. A horrible guessing game, that led to so many misunderstandings. 

And there Jason was, knowing exactly who his soulmate is. 

And for years, Jason had dreamed about what it would be like to actually meet him. He'd been planning to spend his 18th birthday on the roof of the GCPD and wait by the lit Batsymbol until Batman showed up. He'd then reveal the small batsymbol permanently etched unto his lower back to the man, who would then realize that they were soulmates and then sweep him off into their happily ever after. 

Slade had firmly talked him out of that plan, though. Talking of Batman's paranoia, his controlling behaviour and his stone cold demeanor. Echoeing the warnings Catherine had spoken years prior, over Batman's weird double standard regarding the violent treatment of common criminals, while true monsters like the Joker ran free, and adding doubts of his own. 

Jason listened, touched by the parental concern that was so rarely shown. Not that he really believes Batman is that bad. He was somewhat happy to have an excuse, he'd gotten increasingly more nervous as the day approached, afraid of rejection. 

He couldn't quite give up the notion of a soulmate, a one true love. And he already knew he’d never break the soulbond. So he'd promised his Dad, and himseld, that he would seek out Batman only after he was done with college and had gotten his education. It might help to be on more equal footing, too. Batman's at least ten years older than him, if not more, and out of all the reasons Jason could think of for Batman to turn him down, his age turned up quite often. 

Slade was still hoping Jason would change his mind and give up on the soulmate thing all together. He had told Jason to stop thinking about the Bat in the meantime, but the only time Jay really managed to do that was when he was with Bruce. Which was most definitely not what his father had in mind, but he was busy killing people for money, so... 

Now that Slade's reminded that the alternative to Bruce is Batman, he's suddenly very fond of Bruce Wayne. 

Jason listens to the mercenary try to talk up Bruce, all the while looking like he's bitten into a rotten lemon, and thinks about all of the things he likes about Bruce that Slade isn't mentioning. That only Jason knows. 

Like that he's way smarter than he lets on, and that he actually cares about all the charities his company's supporting. His endearing obsession with old-time detective novels and noir serials, and the fact that he could speak even more languages than Jason could and was more than willing to teach him. 

But even if Jason changed his mind, and decided to give them a chance; Bruce has a soulmark himself, one he keeps carefully hidden and always denies to the press. 

Jason is probably one of very few people who know, and that's only because he'd run his hands over Bruce's skin often enough to notice every miniscule detail in the skin; just above Bruce's hip, he wears a thin, skin colored patch to covering a soulmark. A far cry from the very noticeable layers of medical tape and band-aids Jason usually put over his own soulmark. 

They never directly talked about their soulmarks, but Bruce did give Jason a pack of the better, indistinguishable skin patches. 


End file.
